Doctors doing good.... and stuff...

The greater Boston Area is one of the most well known doctor teaching areas in the country. Further Massachusetts General is one of the most well known research hospitals in the world. Recently however the medical staff of Boston Medical Center, have gotten press coverage for taking on an entirely new challenge, immigration. The staff of BMC recently organized a protest when the first lady came to visit, their protest even included a bit of white coat pageantry, with the doctors scrawling pro immigration phrases like "More hospitals, less cages" on their coats. The protest is related to a program with much more impact than another protest. One of the leaders of the protest, Doctor Sarah Kimball is also the director of the  Immigrant and Refugee Health Program at BMC. A program that treats immigrants and refugees regardless of legal or insurance status. The article further highlights how the program is a part of a greater effort in New England, in fact the Massachusetts Medical Society, officially adopted a resolution focusing on giving "better access" to immigrants. With another doctor saying "I think so many people are seeing how the anti-immigrant rhetoric is affecting their patients and want to learn more about what they can do, so we have just been seeing this almost grassroots movement within the physician community," Showing that perhaps there are further alliances to be made between the healthcare community and immigrant advocacy groups. A pivotal partnership that could help alleviate many of the health issues facing immigrant groups.

The Supreme court may make immigration advocacy.... illegal

The first amendment is one of the most known and honored aspects of American culture. It is the very reason that our current president is allowed to demean, insult and bully marginalized populations on his twitter feed or at his rallies. Unfortunately the same protections do not seem to apply to former immigration consultant Evelyn Sineneng-Smith. Smith was convicted of fraud and convicted under the little known "encouragement provision" of US immigration law, which punishes "encouraging or inducing an alien to … reside in the United States” when the citizen knows the alien does not have legal status. A scary prospect for many citizens who stand with their immigrant friends, neighbors, and family. Fortunately while The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals quickly rejected Smith’s appeal of the fraud conviction the court also "reversed her encouragement convictions, finding that the government’s interpretation of the statute criminalizes a large amount of constitutionally protected speech." Setting up a showdown in the highest court in our nation. The result of which will have massive reverberating effects within the United States, potentially forcing the pro immigration movement underground. 

Article to be found here

"The Problem Is Not Too Many, but Too Few"

In the influential publication Foreign Affairs, author Charles Kenny considers a question we have discussed in class. What happens if a country does halt or seriously slow immigration? While Politicians around the world rant about their countries being "full," Kenny cites statistics that show the danger in not having enough immigrants. Currently in North America and Europe, women are having children at a rate that does not support population growth through natural increase. Thus, these countries will have to bring in immigrants in order to stabilize the economy, and fill much needed vacancies in the job market. "Ten European countries, along with Japan, are forecast to see their populations fall by 15 percent or more by 2050. Over the next 65 years, the working-age population of the European Union as a whole is expected to fall by 44.5 million people." Highlighting the need to bring in young immigrant families now, as well as in the future because by the next generation of retirees, a jobs crisis could take hold. Further,  Kenny also laments that "Robots and artificial intelligence will not save rich countries from the economic consequences of a shrinking population." Which combats the idea, that the future economy will be able to run without actual workers. An idea that many Silicon Valley Start ups would take issue with. However, the real impact of this article is showing that many International Relations, economic, and sociological experts are expressing worry of the current world wide anti immigrant trend.

Article here

“Those kids had no business leaving home in the first place.” An upbeat follow up to an earlier blog

Earlier in the semester, my blog discussed a September 22nd article in the Washington Post that covered how a small town in Minnesota had become a focal point in the heated ideological battle over immigration. The article detailed how the schools in Worthington Minnesota had become terribly overcrowded due to an influx of  young immigrants who crossed the border as unaccompanied minors. The original article detailed how the controversy over the kids mere presence, was contentious. Yet the real issue in Worthington was the 5 separate attempts to pass bond measures that would increase school funding, and alleviate some of the space, and student to teacher ration problems. In a recent update, the Washington Post covered how the latest bond measure fared. After 5 previously unsuccessful attempts, it could be understood if the progressives of Worthington were skeptical about their chances. This time however, the town of Worthington passed the entire bond measure package, "52 percent supported building a new school for third- through fifth-graders for $27 million, a second question over an additional $7 million won approval by 19 votes out of more than 3,400 ballots cast." While the margin of victory is as slim as they get, this update is a bit of good news on a topic that we rarely see progressive good news in, so I had to share it.